Don -
How deep should Fuzeon injections be? I help my partner with his injections and nearly all his sites are red and sore. He doesn't have much fat and I'm afraid we are injecting too deeply even though we try to pinch correctly, rotate sites, and avoid muscle. Any tips? Any alternatives to syringes?
Chris

Response from Mr. Kurtyka

Chris,

When you're looking for an injection site, try to find an area that hasn't been used recently, doesn't have any lumps, bumps, sores, etc. You should be able to pinch up some skin between your fingers. If you can't there may not be enought subcutaneous fat there to inject into. Once you've pinched up the skin/fat, insert the needle at a 45 degree angle; you only have to insert the needle aobut 3/4 of the way in. This should help avoid injecting into muscle.

Any or all of the following may help minimize injection site reactions:

Make sure the needle is inserted with the bevel down, so that the medication is injected downward into the fat and not upward towards the skin surface. The medication should be at room temperature; make sure it's not too cold! Try an insulin syringe/needle and/or a smaller guage needle. If your healthcare provider agrees, consider trying the buttocks as there may be more fat there that hasn't been tapped yet! Lot's of other things might help including massaging the site after injection; application of heat or cold packs to the site after injection; use of a topical steroid cream or antihistamine cream; use of a needleless injection system (see previous posts on this board). I hope some of these make a difference for you and your partner. Let me know if you find something else that works so we can share it with everyone else!

--dk

Here's a link to the injection instructions that come with the Fuzeon kit in case you haven't seen them....

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